Rosa Luxemburg
The Life of an Extraordinary Woman
Although her true date of birth remains unknown due to later manipulation of her birth certificate, the 5th of March 1871 is accepted as the day Rozalia Luxemburg was born in the town of Zasmosc, Poland. During her school time in Warsaw, she developes an interest in politics and joins an underground socialist group. By the time she graduates in1888, she is facing arrest for her activism and, like many other Polish and Russian intellectuals, flees to Switzerland. She would never return to live in the country of her birth.
Swiss Exile and Pre-War Germany
In Zurich, she studies an astounding variety of subjects, including maths, economy, politics, philosophy and history. Here, she and fellow expatriates found a Polish social democratic party. She also writes for working class newspapers, trying to promote international socialism and fighting for a European revolution instead of the independent national revolutions that are being proposed by many socialists at the time.
As soon as she graduates, she marries a German to gain the German citizenship and moves to Berlin were she becomes a member of what is known as the most progressive socialist party of nineteenth century Europe, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). At this time, the debate is raging within the party between its reformist and revolutionary wings. Luxemburg fervently promotes a revolutionary and international approach as apposed to a reformist and national one.
Her subsequent commitment to the peace movement and anti war speeches in front of hundreds of thousands lead to several convictions and jail terms on accounts of invocation of disobedience, incitement of class hatred or insult of his majesty. To her own dismay she does not, however, succeed in stopping her party from supporting the war and concludes disillusioned that even with most socialists, nationalism is stronger than class consciousness.
War and Assassination
The SPDs support of the First World War is a heavy and personal blow to her, but Luxemburg does not give in. She and others found the Spartacus Group, in allusion to the famous leader of slave revolt against the Romans. Although she spends most of the war time in jail that did not stop her from writing and fighting for peace. In the chaos that was post-war Germany, a strong SPD emerges and takes over power. But by now, the inner-party differences have become so devastating that the reformist and revolutionary groups cannot agree on a government concept.
The party splits in two, giving birth to the German Communist Party, which then announces the republic of councils or soviet republic of Germany. On the same day, the social democrats announce the democratic republic. Berlin is at the verge of civil war. The new Chancellor and SPD leader Friedrich Ebert finally calls in the army to fight the communists. In what is considered the greatest betrayal in the history of German socialism, the communists are defeated and driven into hiding.
Only a few weeks later, Luxemburg is arrested and murdered together with fellow Spartacus leader Karl Liebknecht by army units in cooperation with a right wing paramilitary group, her body discovered months later in a sewer. Riots follow all over the country, but it seems that with her death, the German left has died, too. The communists and social democrats continue to fight each other and there remains little resistance to battle the rise of the fascist menace in the years to come. Today, Rosa Luxemburg is remembered as a fighter for equality and peace and her grave can be viewed at the Memorial to the Socialists in Berlin.
Rosa Luxemburg in 1915
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